


Somniatis nam Veritas

by Whorever



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Multi Universe, Multiple Universes Colliding, Slow Build, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 12:25:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2468219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whorever/pseuds/Whorever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Jean Kirschstein, and Marco bodt has just pulled me once again into another Universe. These three life suckers put one of our comrades into a comatose state after he learned something that he shouldn't have and now they're going after us. We've been traveling through different universes to try and bring him back. It's not as easy as it sounds, trust me. Each time we pass through, Marco and I are never together. In every universe we come across I have to hunt him down before one of those three gets ahold of us. It helps that Marco and I are soul mates, it makes hunting him down a hell of a lot easier with that light of blue smoke guiding me. <br/>Listen, I'm not crazy alright?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somniatis nam Veritas

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so I'm just going to put it out there that I don't know jack shit in other languages, so I'll be avoiding that usage as much as possible because I'd hate to mess something up by using a bad translator. This story is kind of my excuse to use the different headcanons I have without having a million unfinished fanfics, but that definitely won't be the focus of it. Anyway, This chapter is all World War I and stuff, so I hope it doesn't bore you, and I know a lot of it is probably really confusing right off the bat, but I'll explain it, don't worry :D

How does someone know when they've reached their limit? At what point in time, does a being's subconscious finally lose its grasp on reality and replace it with a world of fiction? At what point in time do we understand that we’ve gone crazy? Do we actually go crazy? Or is it just another social norm that we’ve learned to accept and label ourselves that way?

I am in no means crazy. The only thing I’ve done was wander around my vast mind and find myself stuck in a foreign place. It was something that I blocked out so long ago, and now found myself looking at the scriptures on the walls embedded in my skull and wonder what language I carved this memory in. Deciphering something only a previous version of myself could understand is a tedious task. By choosing to look further into something that would hold no importance to me in the future, am I thus defying living as a being? These are the kinds of questions I’ve decoded while investigating further into the problem.

I hear a voice. It’s something soft, uplifting but depressing at the same time. It’s all done in sound waves of worry, and it guides me further into my memory, trying to provide me with clues that would lead to cracking the code of my own mind. I can’t understand what the voice is telling me, but I follow it anyways. Small, unimportant memories flood my mind, and I can barely remember being a human. Who was I? Was I nice? Mean?

The voice comes in clearer the further I travel through my mind, and this time I can make out a call. I can tell that they're saying a name, I'm not sure if it's my name, but I assume so. The echoing of the voice all came together at a single spot, creating a door in my mind that yearned to be opened. " _Jeeeaaaannnn!_ " I could hear the repetitive voice much better, but it still sounded like it was coming from behind a wall, my hand reached out towards the doorknob of this cryptic door. As the skin on my fingers came within contact of the handle, my entire vision was engulfed in white.

All I felt was pain, I wasn't quite aware that I was in a body now, but I knew the pain was coming from my head. "JEAN! STAY WITH ME!" My eyes split open as the pain I felt in my head flooded my brain with memories. Suddenly I was aware of who I was, and the situation I was in.

There was an explosion just a few feet behind my body, and my vision blurred. My ears were ringing, and my head was spinning. I couldn't keep up with what was going on.

Dirt was flying everywhere, and my brain connected the repetitive firing sounds as guns going off. Once the ringing in my ears subsided I looked to the person that had been screaming my name earlier. Looking at him, I realized exactly where I was. He had short, black hair and a broad body build. His face was covered in dirt, but for some reason I knew there were freckles under all of it. It was like my mind had just opened a file with this guys name on it, summarizing all of his basic information.

His favorite color was green, he had too many favorite songs to pick one, his dream was any job that involved helping others, he was allergic to cats, but played with them anyway. The information flooded into my brain in a pulse of pain, all of it too much for me to take in at once. I clenched my jaw shut, wincing from the data pouring into my consciousness. All of that information and I couldn't remember what his name was. I tried to focus on what he was doing instead.

His shoulders tensed as he pushed down on... something. My eyes followed along his arms, ghosting over each curve and muscle movement. The more I saw of them, the more blood that was covering his skin. He was tying something together, and at that point I realized it was on me. As my eyes met with his hands, I thought I felt my brain frying over trying to put two and two together.

The man hovering over me had just cauterized my leg. From my thigh down, there was nothing. He had just finished tying up the empty cloth that dangled under where my kneecap should have been. "Oh god..." I breathed out, my brain finally solving the puzzle and relaying to me just who I was exactly in this world.

We were soldiers. We were on the battle field, and I had just lost my leg. The person over me, had probably just saved my life. I looked along his uniform for some symbol of what he was, but it didn't show him as a medic or anything. He must've been in my squad, but I couldn't remember.

"Jean!" He screamed, seeing that I was awake. "We have to get you back to base! You're dead out here!" He hollered over the sounds of war behind him.

Bullets pelted the side of the ditch we were in, the solider ducking down on me as dirt was flung over us. My eyes jolted to the side of us, watching as a gun man's body exploded in blood and dropped dead. I could feel my heart racing in my rib cage, but my body felt numb and on fire. After the bullets stopped, the soldier with me pulled me up by my shoulders, tossing my arm around his neck and standing us in a crouched position. This man had just dragged my body out of a ditch and was now carrying me off towards what I was hoping was safety.

I hopped on the one leg I had, holding on to the man beside me literally for dear life. I couldn't tell you what war this was, or who was fighting. All I could remember was that I had been the captain of a squad, and that I was part of the American army. Looking down at the breast pocket of the solider I was with, I saw his blood stained name tag, and could barely make out 'Bodt'. My memories of him were fuzzy, but I knew that we were buddies during our cadet days. Where we went from there, I couldn't recall.

Taking my mind off of trying to figure out this life I had, I decided to try and focus on keeping it from ending. My neck was drenched in sweat, and I had become suddenly aware of all the gear I had on me. My throat burned as I huffed in each breath, trying to use Bodt's body for support to push myself further.

Bullets decorated the air, smoke filling everyone's lungs. Every four to five minutes the sound of a grenade would go off, and even sooner than that, screams from all of the bodies on the field would almost over power the gunfire. Bodt and I were in the line of fire, rushing through in hopes of making it out alive. I thought for sure my chest was going to explode, either from the lack of air making it to my lungs, or from a bomb being thrown at it. Either way, I was sure that I was going to be a dead man.

My eyes slipped shut, my muscles sore and burning. I could feel myself leaning on Bodt just a little more than I wanted to, but I just didn't have the strength to keep going. My breathing was starting to skip, and I could feel my skin crawling in heat that felt cold at the same time. Not too long after, the muscle with in my calf clenched up and my knee buckled. I almost fell to the ground but Bodt quickly caught me.

I could tell from the way he struggled to pull me up that he had been long out of energy as well. "Come on, Captain. We're almost there..." He groaned, tossing more of my weight onto his shoulders. The rest of the trip there, I was fading in and out. For a moment, it was all fighting, and it seemed like the next time I opened my eyes, we were walking past the restock area, and once more I found myself surrounded by tents and tanks. I assumed we had finally made it to base.

Bodt rushed me into a tent and quickly tossed my body onto one of the burlap mats, his own body falling backwards into a chair. The way his knees buckled, it looked as if he was lucky enough to have a chair in his way . He didn't waste a moment, reaching to the tray beside me and bringing me water. The canteen he handed me dripped water down my neck and puddling around my collar bones. I momentarily forgot how to drink as my lips made contact with the canister. My skin rushed with a cool wave as the water went down my throat. It felt amazing, but it only lasted for a moment.

It wasn't long before there were medics at my side, one checking the wound on my leg, and the other looking for any medicine they could find to help me. The first medic leaned over me and pressed a hand to my forehead, and immediately turned around and demanded a wet towel and some sort of medicine I couldn't pronounce. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have any ounce of energy in me to. I overheard the medic say something about me running a high fever. I let my head roll to the side and stared at the soldier who had saved my life. He had taken a seat out of the way from my bedside, and had a younger medic with a clipboard sitting next to him, asking him questions and checking out his basic health.

A rip of the tent doors brought everyone's attention to the front, and people immediately stopped what they were doing to stand and salute. My eyes watched Bodt's body shoot straight out of his chair and into a salutation.

"General Smith, Sir!" A choir of people stated with their hand to their forehead. My eyes trailed over everyone to be met with the General. He was a very tall man and had blond hair combed over to the side in a neat manner. His face held nothing but horrible stories behind them, his eyes dark with trauma. He stepped into the tent and quickly scanned the faces around him.

"At ease, Soldiers." He cooed. All the people went back to what they were doing, Bodt falling back down into his chair. The General stepped down the aisle, examining each body slowly as he passed by. His eyes didn't waver at all, but the way the muscles in his face tightened gave away how uncomfortable he was being surrounded by so many wounded soldiers. He nodded at one of the nurses he passed just before his eyes landed on me. I did my best to attempt any respectful gesture towards him, but I was so in and out of consciousness, I couldn't even explain what I did. His eyes had widened just barely, and his lips parted as he looked me over. "Captain Kirschstein..." He breathed out.

The way his voice traveled through my brain, it brought an incredible amount of pain, just like when I heard Bodt's voice earlier. It was like the sound waves were triggers to pulling open all of the memories that I didn't have up until this point. Quick flashes of this man and my life as a soldier flooded my mind, every time his face appeared in my head, I could hear him referring to me in different titles. First was cadet Kirschstein, and then it was every moment I had spent with him giving me a promotion. All I could hear in my voice was echos of him saying 'Congratulations, Private First Class , Corporal, Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, Cap--' "----tain Kirschstein....How the hell did you get out of there?" My brain mixed images of the past together with the General that stood in front of me, making it hard to comprehend his question.

"..Bodt-" I winced. My body was flushed with a mix of pain and illness, the room spinning around me. The General glanced from me over to the soldier that sat off to the side, his hands clenched together and pressed against his chin. Bodt felt everyone in the room staring at him and brought his attention towards the General.

General Smith locked eyes with Bodt."Sergeant Bodt, Are you well enough to provide an accurate report?"

"Sir, Yes, sir!" He responded, shooting up from his spot and saluting his superior. My head rolled back and fourth on the bed, every movement I landed in causing me pain in some way. The nurse that was tending to me looked around the room for the one she sent away, her face appearing stressed and worried. The General nodded at Bodt, signaling him to tell his story. Bodt cleared his throat before speaking. "Captain Kirschstein and our squad had come across the enemy artillery base. The members of Squad 68---Private Victor Matthews, Private Samuel Boshard, Private Sarah Hicks, Private First Class Amber Stone, Second Lieutenant Henry Palmer, Second Lieutenant Dennis Phillips, Myself and Captain Kirschstein took charge and took out most of the camp. The base called for back up and soon we were out numbered so Captain Kirschstein ordered a retreat. Upon retreating, Private Matthews , Private Hicks, were shot and killed , Captain Kirschstein stepped on a land mine and was injured severely. I immediately tended to Captain Kirschstein, and continued with the retreat, Sir!"

"You lead them here?"

"No, sir. Upon suspicion of any followers, I went through our line of attack." Bodt's posture was straight and perfect, his arm stiff against his side. Looking at his face showed otherwise, his expression nervous.

"What's the status on the rest of your squad?"

"Sir, Private Matthews, Privates Hicks, and Second Lieutenant Palmer are verified deceased. Private Samuel Boshard has been captured by the enemy and the status of Second Lieutenant Phillips and Private First Class Stone are unknown. I am unsure of what caused Second Lieutenant Palmer's death, sir."

General Smith went into deep thought, the soldiers that had accompanied him stood by his side, faces hard as stone. "If asked to lead us back to their base, would you be able to remember the way there?"

"Sir, Yes sir!"

"How many people are we looking at there?"

Marco's face wavered for a moment, his eyes glancing away as he tried to come up with an accurate number. "The base we discovered was about a fourth the size of this one here, sir. We took out a majority of who was there, but the back up they called was about triple the size of our base."

My heart throbbed in pain, a fire burning throughout my body. I felt like I was about to die, my knuckles white from clenching the sheet that I was on. I had to pry my eyes open when the nurse gently touched my arm, watching as she took a needle and placed it into my skin. I huffed out a breath of air, a groan escaping my mouth as I tried to push past the pain flowing through me. I heard her mumble something to another person and soon a rush of cold pressed against my forehead and swam through the surrounding surfaces. My eyes drifted shut, realizing she had placed a wet towel against my forehead. I could feel someone on my left pressing a piece of metal against my chest as well. My ears picked back up on the conversation between the General and Sergeant Bodt.

"Colonel Dawk, find me Lieutenant General Ackerman and bring him here at once. " General Smith turned to the man on his right. "Major, I want you to get me whatever soldiers we got left, make sure they're all stocked properly, take whatever artillery we have left, and get any extra tanks ready for an attack. If we take out their weapons then we take out them. We're going to attack those bastards with everything we got and it damn well better matter."

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The Major rushed out of the tent, leaving the General and Sergeant Bodt standing there.

"Your orders, sir!" Bodt called.

"At ease, Bodt. I want you to rest up until it's time." General Smith let out a breath of air, looking over me once again. He shook his head and turned back to Bodt. A silence settled in before the General extended his hand out towards Bodt. The dark haired soldier looked down at the hand confused before his eyes shot back up to General Smith. "Congratulations. On Behalf of the American Army, Marco Bodt I hereby promote you to Captain."

"-What?" Marco breathed out, his eyes shooting over to my ill and wounded body.

"You'll be assigned a new squad upon our next mission. Make sure to give it all you got, Captain." Marco's eyes looked down at the hand and swallowed a lump in his throat. He sucked in a deep breath and firmly grasped his hand, shaking it and nodding at his superior.

"Thank you, Sir."

"I hope to be able to share a drink with you in the future one day." The general added, his hand going back to his side. He turned away from the now Captain Bodt and walked up to one of the nurses that had been taking care of me. I watched as the nurse went over information on a clipboard with the General and discussed what I assumed to be my health. After a moment, General Smith patted him on the back and let him get back to work, then turned and headed towards my bedside. "How're you feeling Kirschstein?"

"Like Shit, Sir." I choked out, my face wet with a cold sweat. He chuckled to my comment. "It'll all be over soon, don't worry about it. We're going to blow those Germans back into their own country and get back home before you know it."

"Germans? Is that who we're fighting...?" My brain put a few pieces of the broken puzzle back together, briefly remembering something or another about Germany. I watched the nurse and the General exchange worried looks before General Smith took in a breath, dismissing what I had said.

"Take care Kirschstein.. You were one strong son of a bitch, you know that?" I didn't know if I had actually managed a chuckle or not, but the General stared at me a moment longer before the tent entrance was pulled open and three soldiers stepped in behind Colonel Dawk. There was a tall Blond man, next to a slightly shorter brunette haired women with goggles, and in between the two of them was a short dark haired man with an assault rifle resting over his shoulder. The three of them looked like they had all taken numerous trips in and out of hell, dirt covered their uniforms and skin, plenty of bruises and scraps decorating their bodies as well. The tall blond even had a bandaged shoulder, with a spot of blood soaked through to the top layer.

"General Smith Sir-!" Colonel Dawk had started, but was quickly cut off by the shorter man.

"What's all this about a base full of germans, Erwin?" He snapped, fishing into his breast pocket and pulling out a single cigarette.

"Captain Kirschstein and his squad discovered it. One of our men has been captured and two are currently unknown. Captain Bodt has informed me that back up has come and the base is highly secured."

The brunette smiled, her eyes widening in excitement. "It's like we just caught them all in a ditch."

The shorter man lit his cigarette with a zippo lighter, flicking it shut and taking in a huff of smoke, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, but how do we know we're not storming into a trap?"

"Captain Bodt here has informed me that their squad took out almost the entire base before backup was called in. This was only hours ago. They might be expecting more of our soldiers to be close by, I would assume that they're sending out squads to examine the area before they decide that it was just an accident." The General brought a hand to his chin, thinking. "If we act quickly enough, we can hopefully catch them when they loosen up their defenses and seize their weaponry. Once we accomplish that, we'll be able to push the Germans back. I want to be as prepared as we possibly can for this, understand?"

The three of them nodded, the short man rolling his shoulders as he filled his lungs with nicotine. "Sounds like we're gonna be killin' lost of germans, eh?" 

"Lieutenant Zacharis, get yourself a squad together and prepare for the worst." The blonde nodded and saluted General Smith and then turned and left. "Lieutenant Zoe, meet me in my office after this to discuss our tactics for this mission and develop a proper strategy." With a nod, she clicked her heels and saluted, then left as well. "Lieutenant General Ackerman, I want a translator with us, in case we get the chance to negotiate."

"I've already recruited Sergeant Jaeger for the job, Sir. My squad is ready to go as soon as you give us the signal." The cigarette hung off his lip as he spoke, part of the ash flicking onto the ground.

The General had his face locked in focus, his mind completely submerged in thought. He didn't say anything for a moment, the tent filled with nothing but huffs and moans from all of the wounded soldiers. Captain Bodt was now sitting back down in his seat, his eyes shifting between me and the two superior officers in the room, his body nervous. Lieutenant General Ackerman pulled the cigarette from his lips and blew out a cloud of smoke, his eyes on the General. General Smith closed his eyes as if he had just made an important decision with himself. "Ackerman, you're in charge of getting everyone together and ready by sundown. I'll be in my tent until then." He brought his gaze back to Marco and nodded. "Stay here and get some rest for a bit, just be ready with the rest of the lot."

"Sir, yes Sir!" The two echoed in response, watching as the blond walked past and out of the tent. Lieutenant General Ackerman followed soon after, his cigarette hanging off of his lip as he exited behind Smith.

I let out a groan, snapping my eyes shut. The nurses that were once beside me were currently scattered about, checking up on the other patients now that I had been tended to. I could feel the medicine that I had received slowly numbing the pain and discomfort that had once rushed through my body. I felt extremely tired and weak, my whole head felt clogged and I couldn't tell if I was too hot or too cold. The warmth of a hand on my arm caused me to drag my eyes open and peer up at the freckled raven that had saved me. "Captain...." He sighed out, looking me over.

"...Thank you..." I breathed. I couldn't remember if I ever thanked him or not. Hell, I couldn't remember a lot of anything right now actually.

"Sir-" He started but I cut him off, shaking my head.

"No.. Really, Thank you. I was going to die out there and you literally dragged my ass to safety." His eyes glanced downward, his face giving away that he had something more he wanted to say, but he kept it to himself. His skin was dark with dirt and it was then that I realized I probably looked exactly the same. I had hoped at that moment that General Smith was right about the war coming to an end soon, because I couldn't wait to get back home and be able to shower as often as I could.

The thought brought something strange to my attention. I realized right then that I couldn't remember my home. I couldn't remember if I actually had one, or if I had a family, or literally anything other than this war. The war itself was blurry and only things that were happening immediately could I remember. I felt like I knew my entire life, but my brain just couldn't tell me what any of it was. Bodt noticed the confusion on my face, and removed his hand from my arm, reaching up for the towel to feel it. "Is everything alright, Kirschstein?"

"Yeah...Yeah, no that's fine.." I breathed, waving his hand away from my forehead. "It's just...." His eyes casted down to my face, listening closely to my words. "I can't remember where I'm from.." Marco's eyebrows scrunched together. "Like, I know that I'm from America.. And I know that I have a mom, and a dad, and I know I went to school and graduated, but I have no idea what those places were..."

"Maybe....You have ..amnesia..?" He suggested, but his words didn't sound very confident.

I shook my head. "No, no because I can remember their faces.. But that's it, I just remember...People..It's really weird..." I watched as Marco's face changed, his eyes widening slightly as if he recognized some kind of condition from what I had said.

"...What... What was the last thing you remember? Like, before I brought you here?" He asked becoming alarmingly interested in what I would say. I gave him a strange look, wondering why he would ask something like that. I tried to search through my mind, remembering all of the dirt and bullets flying through the air, and the screams of the soldiers around us. "The war... Just... People fighting.."

"Before that. In your head, what do you remember seeing? Even if it doesn't make sense, just tell me." Marco's stern questions put pressure on me, making me feel as if there was something specific that I should be recalling. He brought his thumb to his lips, chewing on the skin around his nail.

"Well.. I was.. In this dream state..." I started, staring up at the ceiling. "I remember...A lot of doors. I was walking down a hall way and I kept passing all kinds of different doors.. Until I came to this one specific one.. I kept hearing my name from the other side..." I rattled off the little details I had of my mind and felt a weird sensation run through my body. Marco's eyes were wide with shock at my words, his hand drifting away from his mouth. "The walls...They were covered in words.. I think they were my memories...Or things that I had said.. But I couldn't understand any of them." I shook my head, bringing a hand to my eyes as I tried to rub the memory away. My head hurt when I thought about it, and I could feel a strange tug in my chest. "It's weird because I was so aware of thought and life, but I didn't know who I was until I heard that voice...."

"Awake..." Marco breathed, his eyes staring bewildered at me. "You're...awake.."

"What? Of course I'm awake." I commented, scrunching my eyebrows together at his strange behavior. "Although...Now that you say it, I'd rather be sleeping..." I murmured my eyelids feeling heavy.

"You went through the Inner Realm." He mumbled under his breath. He shook his head, playing with the thought, his eyes staring at nothing as he went into deep concentration.

I was way beyond confused at this point, not understanding a word this guy was telling me. I decided to dismiss his words and closed my eyes, the idea of sleep sounding much more important than whatever Marco was spewing about.

I felt the towel slip off of my forehead, and a warm hand press against it in it's place. My consciousness had already slipped into rest, making me unable of pulling my eyelids open. I felt Marco's breath against my ear as he whispered. " _Somniatis nam Veritas_ " I couldn't understand what he said, but his words pulled me further into rest, until I couldn't feel his presence any longer and my vision was completely black.

* * *

 

_"-The president has just come to--....his speech saying-......thousands have been confirmed dead---....War is over." The static waves of the radio broke in and out of my consciousness, the last words it spoke drifting around in my head. " I repeat..! The War is Over! America has proven once again, we are a force to be reckoned with. The War is Over!"_

"War is..." I groaned as the voice pulled me from my sleep. "War is over..." After repeating what the announcer exclaimed, I shot up from my spot on the bed, my eyes snapping open. "The War is Over?!" My eyes filled with darkness, struggling to adjust to my surroundings. I was still in the bed from earlier, the fever I once had now knocked out of my system completely. The light gradually became clearer as my eyes adjusted, turning my head around the tent for any signs of a conscious solider. The others that were in here with me were in the same state I was in just moments ago. Asleep and wounded. I looked by my bedside, my eyes falling onto a pair of crutches just on the other side of the empty bed next to me. I took in a deep breath, pulling the covers off of my legs and glancing down at the swollen stump I had.

There was no way I had been asleep for more than a couple of hours, I could feel the wound thumping in pain that was only a little duller than earlier. My muscles were sore and my lungs were still recovering from the over excessive running I had done. No one was here, and that probably meant that everyone was either preparing to ambush the base I had found, or were already engaged in combat with them. I listened as the announcement repeated, declaring the end of the war.

There wasn't any reason for them to be out there now. They had no point to fight any longer, someone had to get out there and tell them to stop. My eyes shot around the room, looking for anybody that I could tell. Realizing there wasn't anyone capable of it in here I knew I had to find someone on base. I once again let my eyes land on the crutches just a few feet away from me and groaned as I took in how much effort I needed to put into climbing over there.

I dragged my good leg off of the bed and placed it on the ground, my missing leg hovering over the ground and a phantom feeling of support from both limbs flowing through me. I did what I could to focus all of my balance on my right foot, but I was too nervous to stand right away. Instead, I tried to throw myself against the empty bed next to me. The one leg I had gave me enough support to tumble from my bed to the next, falling onto the thin mattress with a thump. I already felt like I exerted too much energy and the idea of wandering around the base sounded miserable. My thigh burned in pain as I used my arms to pull myself over the mattress and stretch for the crutches that I needed so badly. My finger brushed along the wood, twirling them in place for a moment before the pair was knocked down right onto the bed. I let out a sigh in my success and now prepared myself for attempting to stand knowing full well just how stupid it was to do so.

I positioned myself in a similar manner as when I threw myself over here, my good leg on the ground, and crutches under my arms. I took in a deep breath before counting to three and using as much upper strength as I could to keep from putting too much weight on my foot and successfully pulling myself into a standing position. Everything had become so much easier now that I was able to stand. The first thing I did was look for the radio that blared through the tent. I started to wonder if maybe someone else had already heard this and left on their own to go inform the General, but I didn't want to bet on it. I rocked myself towards the radio and picked it up from its spot, taking it with me as I climbed out of the tent and looked around at our base.

There weren't any lanterns on and I didn't find a single soul wandering about. The neighing of the few horses we had was all that echoed through here. My eyes scanned over the area, completely in shock at the lack of soldiers. I started to fear that maybe the enemy soldiers had discovered our base at it's weakest defense and captured everyone that was here. It would make sense to leave the wounded behind, but I assumed they would've just shot us. The static from the radio cut in and out for a moment as the announcement repeated itself again, celebrating as he declared the end of the war. I tried to think of what I wanted to do, wondering if it was worth it to waste the time in finding someone around here that would actually be willing to take the radio out to General Smith or not. "Shit..." I breathed out, craning my neck in hopes of finding someone. Giving up rather quickly, I made the stupid decision to head towards the horses we had and take the radio myself up to him, realizing that I would probably be the only other person that might be able to get there without Marco leading them. I had later on learned of what had happened at the enemies base from Marco. He explained to me that after I had fallen asleep, he followed suit and slept until Lieutenant General Ackerman woke him up and told him it was time to leave.

Marco was nervous, but he had some of the strongest soldiers surrounding him as he traced his steps back to the base that we discovered previously. Ackerman and two other soldiers rode in a jeep, a large Gatling gun attached to the back of the vehicle that the Lieutenant General stood guard at. The vehicles and horses strayed back when they got too close to being heard as the base came into sight. General Smith examined the scene before him, hesitating to move his men closer. Marco nodded at the base and pointed out that there were less soldiers now then when he retreated with my body in his arms. This made the decision to move forward harder on General Smith as he looked over his men. He could see that his army easily outnumbered the men at the base, but he was scared on what approach could potentially kill off more of his men then he wanted. He made a hand gesture towards the other squads and signaled for them to expand around the base and surround it.

Marco and his squad had stayed close to General Smith. His squad at the time had mostly new soldiers, all of whom's nerves were bouncing around, but he had Sergeant Jaeger with him along with another promising soldier known as Private Wagner. The General's plan was to approach the base with complete control over the situation. He wanted to lose as little lives as possible and was gambling on trying to take the base over through surrender rather than force. Once he had his squad in the position he wanted, he was going to bring the vehicles up and approach the base while exposing the amount of men he had on them. Marco studied through the scope of his sniper, moving slowly as he examined the men that patrolled the area. They were all pretty comfortable looking, most of them chit chatting with one another, but they were all armed and clutching onto their guns closely.

"Captain Bodt, I want you and your squad to cover Jaeger at all costs, understood?" General Smith breathed. Sergeant Jaeger took a look up at the general and drew in an uneasy breath. He wasn't the only one amongst the men that could speak german, but he was the most fluent in it. His importance to the mission was greater than Marco's lead to them.

Marco nodded, withdrawing the gun quietly and looking at his squad. "You heard him, do _not_ let any harm come to Sergeant Jaeger. Your eyes are on the enemy, your guns are on their brains, and your mind is on Jaeger, do that and hopefully you'll get to go home and see your family." His squad gave an unsure nod, all looking to the brunette next to him, almost as if they were apologizing in advanced for his death. Marco turned back to the general, General Smith giving him a nod and watching as the man scurried up the back of a tree as quietly as a mouse. Marco had used metal spikes that he dug into the trunk and pulled himself up as quietly as possible, shimmying himself onto a perfect branch to scope out his enemies.

After General Smith saw he was in a proper position, he slowly brought a hand up, two fingers raised in the air. His men all pulled their guns up quietly and aimed towards the enemy base, their fingers hovering over the triggers of their guns and tension rising in the air. Marco listened for the scampering of the other snipers, but his ears strained themselves to only hear mixes of the wind and leaves. His eyes took a quick glance to his left and saw one soldier leveling his sniper rifle on a branch of a tree adjacent to his. He took comfort in knowing he was in good hands and brought all of his focus on the clueless men at the base. He concentrated on taking in slow breaths through his nose, his scope hovering over the men that were closest to them. They would be the first to hear something which meant they would be the first to die if they raised their guns.

"Go out there, put your gun down, and beg them to not shoot. Hands in the air, you're to remain completely harmless to them." General Smith commanded. Sergeant Jaeger nodded in understanding as he waited for further instructions. "You're going to ask them to talk. Tell them that you have men surrounding them and if they aren't willing to negotiate, we will kill every last one of them. Hold one finger up if are going to attack, two if they're willing to negotiate, and three if they need convincing. "

"Understood, Sir."

Marco watched as the brunette went stumbling out of the forest, grabbing the attention of the German soldiers. Their guns rose up in defense, their fingers on their triggers as confusion swept over them. _"Nicht schießen!_ " Eren hollered, tossing his gun down in front of him and holding his arms above his head in surrender. The soldiers exchanged looks, unsure of what to do. They murmured amongst each other before the one closest in Marco's field of visions shouted something to the American soldier. The brunette nodded. _"Okay, okay_ " He slowly dropped to his knees, his hands extending further in the air. The German soldier slowly approached Eren, speaking something that none of the English soldiers understood. Eren took in a breath and began going into his demands. He spoke solidly, and strong. The colors on the faces of the Germans slowly drained with each word that came out of Eren's mouth, numbing their minds like poison. The one holding the gun to Eren immediately barked orders at the further soldier. Marco's aim was instantly on him, watching as he spun on his heel and headed to warn the others.

The man didn't even get time to let his foot hit the ground before Marco pulled the trigger on him, his comrades watching his body drop to the ground and his blood blasting out of the side of his head. Eren's eyes wavered for just a second before they met with his enemy, his teal eyes watching his finger shake against the trigger. He spoke something else in which the German cut him off, hollering at him in panic. Eren didn't show any sign of weakness as he spoke in a collected tone. Marco re-adjusted his aim onto the other soldiers watching as they waved their guns around the trees that hid his enemies. He could feel their panic running through their bodies, the heat that made their hearts race faster than what felt possible. He felt it in them and buried it deep within, taking in a breath and holding it for a moment to steady his aim. His eyes stared at the thin fingers held in the air, just above Eren's head. He waited for the signal, waited for the command to pull the trigger, and just before he couldn't hold his breath anymore, a look of sorrow overcame the brunette, and his fingers all shot down, a single index finger standing along in the air.

Marco pulled his trigger, killing the man that Eren had attempted to negotiate with. His heart would've twisted then. It would've pulled and hurt and flooded his body with regret and shame at what he had done, but the war made him numb to such feelings. Just like Eren. Just like Lieutenant General Ackerman. Just like General Erwin. Just like me.

Sergeant Jaeger quickly rolled for his gun and pulled it up, aiming for one of the soldiers. He landed a bullet right in the man's side, just as the german soldier finished hollering for back up. His body dropped to the ground, but he kept his gun aimed at our soldiers.

In a matter of seconds, things immediately went into chaos. Reinforcements arrived just as we had progressed further, all of our men now engaged in combat. This was around the time I came riding in on my horse. Bullets were whizzing through the air, explosions going off on either end. I had the radio in my hand and my eyes looking around frantically, hoping to God I wouldn't be shot. I was heading towards what I thought was the back of the line when I heard someone call out to me.

"Kirschstein! What in the fucking _hell_ are you doing out here!?" My horse whinnied loudly, panicking to the loud cries of war. I pulled it to a hault and turned to my side to see Lieutenant General Ackerman crouching behind the jeep that he came in on. He had his gun held against his chest, fresh blood decorating his skin like paint on a canvas. His eyes looked emptied and hollowed, but he showed no fear.

"Sir! Where's General Smith!? We have to stop this!" It was hard to yell over all of the noise.

Ackerman slid out of his spot, turning his gun into position and shooting off a couple of rounds before pulling back. "He's unreachable right now, Kirschstein, Get the fuck out of here!" Ackerman's attention was focused on his enemy.

"But Sir-!" I was cut off when I felt something thick and rope like slap against the back of my neck and drag me off of my horse. My eyes found themselves on the ground, spinning as I tumbled and landed on it. The biggest shock of pain shot through my body, originating from my missing limb. I screamed in pain before I felt a pair of hands grip my face and pull my gaze onto them.

It was Marco.

"You can _not_ be here right now." He shouted at me, our bodies lying flat on the ground. He had used the belt to his gun to throw me over the horse, saving me from possibly having my head blown off.

"Jesus fuck-" I heard Lieutenant General curse as he shot out from his spot. His hands latched underneath my shoulders as he dragged my body across the dirt and behind the false safety of the immobile vehicle. Marco joined our side immediately after, the two of them staring at me in disbelief. "Kirschstein, you were fucking _saved_!" Ackerman yelled at me. It took me a moment to understand that he wasn't referring to what him or Marco had done. His eyes looked full of sadness then, and I really pitied him in that moment. Everything that he had been through, everything that he had seen, all of the men he lost, I could hear his pain in the way his voice begged for me to go to safety. "You were going home tomorrow, why in God's name-"

"-Shut up!" I cut him off, pulling fourth the radio in my hand. His eyes twinged in anger for a split second until the choppy words caught his attention. Marco and him exchanged looks as they heard the words split through the tight air around us. "I have to get this to General Smith, sir! This fight is completely pointless, it's over! We won!" I sat up on my elbows, the pain of my missing limb almost bringing me into tears. "People are dying for no reason!"

The amount of pain and self-hatred that flooded Levi's eyes at that moment was enough to make anyone else want to die. He lost his breath for a moment as he looked towards the front lines. He had no idea where General Smith was, but he knew he was up there.

Captain Bodt let out a breath as he waited for a command from his superior officer. "Sir, I can take the radio-"

"No, you need to stay here with him." He looked down at me and then ripped the radio from my hands. The horse I had was jumping and hollering in panic, ready to book it at any second now. His eyes locked onto mine before extending a hand out to me. I met his and he gripped it, pulling me forward and close to his chest. "You don't deserve to die out here. Please.. Make it home." He let go of my hand and readied his gun, the radio now slung on his hip. Lieutenant General Ackerman ran towards the horse and pulled himself onto it, running straight towards the line of fire.

Marco turned his head towards me, anger decorating his features. "Jean you have to listen to me right now. You need to get out of here-"

"How?! I can't go anywhere like this-"

Marco shook his head, cutting me off. His hands slapped onto my shoulders, shaking them slightly. " _Listen_ to me!" He slipped his hands up my neck and cupped my face. "You have to get out of this universe. You don't belong here right now, you're going to die."

"..." I was quiet for a long moment. "What... What the hell are you going on about, Bodt?"

" _Somniatis nam Veritas_." He huffed out, the sentence flowing through his mouth like water. It was those fucking words again. " _Penetralis Regnum_. " The phrase made my vision go white for a second. "Jean, you can do this, you were there before. You were there today.. Go back.. _Penetralis Regnum_. Say it. " Again, my vision was flooded with white, this time for a moment longer. "Say it, Jean!" He demanded. I felt light headed. I felt like I was going to puke. I felt like I was leaving my body.

"Penetralis Regnum. " The words passed my lips as familiar feeling as if it were my name. It was then that I felt an explosion inside of myself, white taking over my vision and pulling me into that place I was before. Words in black scribbled letters echoed through the white walls, the doors that I had passed through all standing upright and close to me, the handles clicking open every time I walked past them.

What the hell was this? Where was I? I thought I was at war.. My leg-

My eyes shot downward to see that the limb I had once lost to a landmine was there. I felt confusion wash over me, taking my gaze and looking around. My eyes went to the thousands and thousands of words that decorated and crawled along the walls, certain ones going slower than others. I could make out a few of them, but most weren't even in english.

"Jean."

I jumped, startled at hearing Marco's voice in here. I looked forward at the never ending hallway that I was in, the words making up the walls all stopping and forming my name repeatedly. I could see Marco. He was standing there, only a couple doors down from me. He had a weird blue smoke around him, and it was then that I noticed I did too.

"Jean, I'm so happy." He began walking towards me, almost breaking into a run but we met before that could happen. He wasn't in his war uniform. He wasn't covered in dried blood and dirt. He wasn't carrying anything. I don't even think he had any clothes on at all. There was just so much blue emitting from him, I couldn't tell. His arms immediately wrapped around me, pulling me into a hug. "I'm so happy I finally found you.." His voice trailed off into something softer, his breath prickling along my skin. "I could cry right now..." His whisper ate my ear. For some reason I felt safe in his arms. In all of the confusion that I was feeling, I felt safe.

 _Somniatis nam Veritas_.. It was clear as day what that meant now.. 'Dream for Reality...' What was the meaning behind that...?

"Marco....Where are we...?" I pulled away from his hug, his arms slipping out of my grasps as he smiled down at me.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything to you."


End file.
